Letter From the Department Chair 2017

Yes, this is a slightly different face than has greeted you as department chair the last several years. A big thank you to Chris Kitts for so ably leading Cal Poly’s Biological Sciences Department for eight years. Stepping into this position has been a lot of work, but our excellent staff, faculty and students have made it much easier.

I’ve been chair for a little over a year now, and I’m happy to report that the Biological Sciences Department continues to excel. Faculty and students alike were recognized for their good work this year. To name a couple of examples, Elena Keeling received Cal Poly’s Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award (to go with her previous Distinguished Teaching Award), and two students, Erin Aiello and Heather Neldner, were awarded competitive National Science Foundation graduate research fellowships. In addition, undergraduate John Stepanek received a first-place award at the 31st annual CSU Student Research Conference.

Three new faculty have joined us in the past year. They are Dena Grossenbacher (botany), Nishi Rajakaruna (botany), and Alexis Pasulka (biological oceanography).  We have a fourth new faculty member coming in March – Jean Davidson (bioinformatics/genomics).

We’re doing great research in so many areas, and in the process giving our students the opportunity to do some pretty impressive things, like visit Antarctica, or help discover the leaning pines of, well, anywhere they’re found. Bringing Learn by Doing to the far reaches of the globe — that’s what we do.

You — our alumni, donors and friends — contribute so much to what we do here at Cal Poly. From scholarships, to research funding, to sending students to professional conferences, we truly couldn't do it without you, and we greatly appreciate your support.

Hearing what you’re up to always puts some good cheer in the day, so send us a few lines of your latest news. If you’re on campus, please stop by the department office and say hello — it would be great to catch up.

Ken Hillers, Chair
Biological Sciences Department